February 24, 2014

Believing My Justice

I think Re:Birth II / Romancing SaGa Battle Arrange has found a permanent home in my portable music player. Long bus commutes are easily made shorter when Mr. Kenji Ito is on board, bringing his hard rock arrangements of battle themes from the SNES's Romancing SaGa series.

Although the original games never saw an English release in the west, I've been a fan of SaGa music for a long time. I remember scouring the internet for game music many years ago, encountering unlabeled Romancing SaGa SPC files (digital music data ripped directly from the games, requiring a dedicated program to play) and naming the tracks myself according to what I imagined was going on in the game while each piece played. It's kind of strange, to know a game on a music-only basis, but it fires up a sense of wonder as well.

I was planning to pick just one track from this album to highlight, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to snub any of these three. Let's rock!

This is a merging of two pieces which were used for particularly special boss battles -- probably not unlike the four fiends of the elements in Final Fantasy IV. I used to know it as "Four Noble Devils."
My favourite part is the second half, particularly what happens in the bit between 3:55 and 4:17. It just tickles my music bone.

I suppose if I really had to bite the bullet and only share one piece for today's post, it would have been this final track, Believing My Justice. It is unique in that it was composed especially for a Playstation 2 remake of the first Romancing SaGa, and never appeared in the original game.

I just love, love, love the melody that bounces between the keyboard and electric guitar. It goes on for so long, teasing the listener with the promise of resolution, without rest until that ominous cadence at 1:30. Still, nothing about it feels final or complete. It's ever forward-facing, tirelessly planning its next step.

This is a bittersweet melody, as much cruel as it is beautiful. Perhaps these track names have been confused, and we've encountered the true "noble devil" right here.